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John Baxter (1821 - 1914)

John Baxter
Born in Rothesay, Bute, Scotland, United Kingdommap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 19 Dec 1847 in North Bute, Scotlandmap
Husband of — married before 1860 in Rothesay, Scotlandmap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 93 in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealandmap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Helen Baxter private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 13 Jun 2015
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Biography

John was born in June of 1821, in Rothesay, Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom, and baptised on the 7th of July 1822.

Birth Record[1]

John Baxter's ancestors had lived on the Isle of Bute for as long as anyone could remember. Originally they had come however, from a family from the Highlands, from Clan Macmillan. There are also Baxter families that come from the lowlands, from Ireland and from England. None of them are related.

John was listed as a cotton spinner in the 1851 Scotland census. In 1851 he lived with his wife Janet and son Archibald, 2 years old, and daughter Isabella 1 month old at 23 Castle Street, Rothesay. Janet died in Scotland in 1855.

John arrived at Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand in 1861 on the "Lady Egidia". The Lady Egidia left Glasgow and traveled down the Clyde on Wednesday the 10th of October 1860 and arrived at Port Chalmers on the 28th January 1861. According to the passenger list, he arrived with his wife (unnamed), two sons and a daughter.

The Lady Egidia left with 438 passengers on board. It brought passengers from Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen, Ullapool, the Orkneys and Ireland. There were so many gaelic speakers on the ship that special religious services were in held in gaelic. 30 children and 2 adults died on the voyage.

John hoped for steady employment and good wages when he arrived in NZ. At first he and his family stayed at the immigrant barracks on the beach at Dunedin. They then moved to Brighton, down the coast from Dunedin. John worked first as a cook. He set up a cookhouse at Harpers Pass which catered for gold diggers going to the gold fields in the Taramakau Valley on the West Coast. He prospected unsuccessfully at Gabriel's Gully but was more successful at Dunstan. Later he went to the West Coast when gold was found there, and set up a cookhouse for miners at Harpers Pass.

John then returned to Glasgow where he invested in a line of small steamers on the Clyde, and later returned to NZ.

John was known for his liking for playing the bagpipes and for swimming in the sea. Every day until he died he would take a swim in the sea in the little bay to the north the "Big Rock" at Brighton.

John passed away in November of 1914, in Otago, New Zealand.


Inscription
93 years
our dear father

Burial: Green Island Cemetery in Dunedin, Dunedin City, Otago, New Zealand

Plot: 363
Created by: Beensker

FindAGrave Memorial link[2]

Sources

  1. "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," database, FamilySearch [1] :Catherine Brown in entry for John Baxter, 24 Jun 1822; citing , reference 2:15DLGSG; FHL microfilm 1,041,086.
  2. Find A Grave: Memorial #148695768

See also:

  • "The Story of the ss Lady Eqidia an immigration ship of 1860" published by The Lady Egidia Centenary Committee 1961
  • "The Life of James K. Baxter" Frank McKay - published by Auckland Oxford University Press 1990
  • First hand knowledge from (Millicent Macmillan-Brown) Baxter.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:

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Categories: Lady Egidia, sailed 12 October 1860